Prime654
Well-Known Member
Last Saturday my 23 month old boy, Dax, was found gasping for air. I heard 2 large squeals from the next room and raced over to find him retching, his mouth open and gasping for air.
Took him to the small animal clinic at the Ontario Vet College here in Guelph where they put him on oxygen until Wednesday when i took him home. The said it was something along the line of chronic lung disease and gave me some med to take home (prednisone, theophylline and clarithromycin). They also did xrays and said there appeared to be fluid in the lungs as the lung area was much whiter then it should be, and they also seemed think there might be some sort of mass in the lung. This was Tuesday, and the vet made it sound pretty bad, but after spending the night in oxygen I took him home Wednesay morning and everything seemed fine.
For 4 days I spent all my time with him. Although his breathing was labored, it sounded clear and he seemed perfectly content laying in his bed next to me wherever i went. However, this afternoon he started having gasping fits. He'd start panting, opening his mouth, stretching out his neck and retching. Its get to the point were his whole upper body would shake and let out a giant squeak.
It's breaking my heart cause I have no idea what to do. Is there anything I can do to get him through his gasping fits? Ive tried sitting in the bathroom with a steam shower going, not sure if those help. I also looked for over the counter inhalers, but apparently those aren't available in Canada.
Also is this something that's going to be getting better, like cold / flu? The scripts are for only 2 weeks ... does that mean it should clear up by then? Is this something that a rat at his age can overcome? is there going to be permanent damage/side effects? The fits are really rough on him, I can tell hes terrified and he totally crashes afterwards (their no picnic on me either). Should I be considering putting him to sleep at this point?
I'm going to make a vet appoint for first thing in the morning, but any feed back i could get before then would be appreciated.
Took him to the small animal clinic at the Ontario Vet College here in Guelph where they put him on oxygen until Wednesday when i took him home. The said it was something along the line of chronic lung disease and gave me some med to take home (prednisone, theophylline and clarithromycin). They also did xrays and said there appeared to be fluid in the lungs as the lung area was much whiter then it should be, and they also seemed think there might be some sort of mass in the lung. This was Tuesday, and the vet made it sound pretty bad, but after spending the night in oxygen I took him home Wednesay morning and everything seemed fine.
For 4 days I spent all my time with him. Although his breathing was labored, it sounded clear and he seemed perfectly content laying in his bed next to me wherever i went. However, this afternoon he started having gasping fits. He'd start panting, opening his mouth, stretching out his neck and retching. Its get to the point were his whole upper body would shake and let out a giant squeak.
It's breaking my heart cause I have no idea what to do. Is there anything I can do to get him through his gasping fits? Ive tried sitting in the bathroom with a steam shower going, not sure if those help. I also looked for over the counter inhalers, but apparently those aren't available in Canada.
Also is this something that's going to be getting better, like cold / flu? The scripts are for only 2 weeks ... does that mean it should clear up by then? Is this something that a rat at his age can overcome? is there going to be permanent damage/side effects? The fits are really rough on him, I can tell hes terrified and he totally crashes afterwards (their no picnic on me either). Should I be considering putting him to sleep at this point?
I'm going to make a vet appoint for first thing in the morning, but any feed back i could get before then would be appreciated.